Charter School Law Generates Dueling Legal Opinions

In what has become a case of dueling legal opinions, Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper says the state law that allows charter schools to operate in Nashville does not impose a financial burden on local school districts in violation of the state constitution. That is an opposite conclusion to the one reached by a Metro Nashville Public Schools attorney, who said last month that the state’s failure to offset costs caused by the departure of students is unconstitutional. In an opinion released yesterday defending the law, Cooper said, “On its face, the Charter Schools Act does not directly or expressly require the expenditure of extra funds beyond what a [local school district] is already spending on education.” The Tennessean has more on the story.